The Meeting
by Darkmaiar
Summary: AU. One-Shot. Brain is meeting an informant. Alexei is tracking Brain. Ivan is following and ordering Alexei. When they converge, chaos ensues. When the occuring battle escalates, who will win and what are the consequences. Please Review, to let me know how I did. Thank You.


Disclaimer: I own nothing from Fairy Tail.

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**The Meeting**

If one were to look at him now, almost no-one would recognize him. It had been years perhaps, since his last public appearance. His chocolate skin made due with the shadowy corner he sat in, hiding him and masking his presence. All things considered, he was safe.

He was meeting an informant today. A shady character that was only useful as a spy or cannon fodder. But, he had learned to make due. Each character he worked with had a knack for being a maggot - as he called them. He understood that it was hardly the case that he would ever find many that weren't 'maggots', if his level of power was any indication. They were all beneath him, as far as he was concerned.

As the insignificant worms meandered by, he took note of each movement... each action... each thought. It was a habit of his; the higher brain functioning that he was gifted with made sure of it. He could hardly not understand all before him. The simple lives they lived cursed anger into him. Such incompetence, insolence. His primary goal – his foremost plan – was the very thing to teach them. To sow the seeds of chaos into their very being. Perhaps they would then understand the world as he does.

While pondering, a man walked forward. His slicked-back, blond hair drenched in grease was a sight for poor eyes. Perhaps a working man. No... a _criminal_. What a character. He reached forward to invite the man forward, into the shadows. His curiosity getting the better of him.

It took a short while, but one glass of sake later, the man had sat down. "You the bloke I'm s'posed to talk too?" the man asked with absolute disrespect. "Your boss contacted me 'bout the stuff you wanted to know about. Real tricky business you got yourself in man," he continued, slurring his poorly said words. "If I's your, I'd just mind my own biz-i-ness. You just gon' die; doin' what yer doin'." Insolence. The most pure example. "You should heed your own words, _boy._ If you intend to live, you will tell me what you know. Then, you will leave." he returned in his deep, baritone voice. The man had raised his ire. A deplorable action at the least.

The man seemed to sense the aura he exuded and gulped quite audibly. He nodded shakily and started recounting what he knew. Nothing truly noteworthy for his time, but eventually all contacts had to reach him personally, for he had no other to do it for him. He made sure to listen, but let his mind wander.

A man, abreast with shiny golden armor entered the pub. Ignoring the bartender, he strode to a corner and sat himself down. His head was covered with a unique golden mask. Interesting. Another noteworthy character. With a quick glance to his position, the armored man turned around and stayed silent. That wouldn't do. With a wave of his hand, a nightmarish eye opened on the ceiling. From the shadows it watched greedily, before finally closing when it's supply of energy ran out.

The memories were vivid as usual. One of his unique spells; so useful for information gathering, and... intimidation. It appeared that the armored man was waiting. He pondered if a new character would enter, but then something caught his eye: A white streak in the memory, the very same streak gliding to the man. It slid gracefully through the air, before finally setting down on the table. What landed was a small paper doll with an odd pattern of shapes and lines on the front. A shikigami.

He couldn't stop himself; his face lit up. His informant nearly wet himself from the sight. His slasher smile bloomed on his face. He was known for it. Very few see the slasher smile and lived to tell the tale. Ivan... Ivan Dreyar was here. How fantastic, marvelous, wonderful! He put a hand over his face, casting a spell at the same time. The magic string from the doll reached to a man outside. Sitting on a park bench. The betrayer, the deceiver, he had come; most likely relaying orders to this armored man. Perfect...

"Is there anything else?" he asked the informant, eager to end the report. "No, not really..." the man answered with uncertainty. "Good. I'll no longer be needing your services..." he started. The man nodded his head, eager to leave. "..._ever_." he finished in a dark, foreboding tone. The man's face took a fearful expression, but it was too late. He was restricted by a spell, something very powerful. A maid came by with another drink, happily excepted by the man. Yes, a _very_ powerful restriction spell. For short periods, he could control a man's very brain. His favorite, personally-made spell.

He grabbed the glass with his hand. Tendrils of dark energy snaked their way through it, into the drink, chilling it. He then stood up and left the drink to the man, who then found himself with the drink going down his throat. A quick, clean death.

He left the bar with a quickened pace. Not from panic, but excitement. When he reached the door, he looked back at the armored man. On the man's shoulder sat the doll, looking around absentmindedly. When it noticed the eyes on it, all it saw was the distant slasher smile, before it shriveled into a crumpled ball.

The aura was too powerful for the single shikigami, but not the armored man. He noticed and turned, only to see the same smile. The eyes of the man glanced down, making the armored man look at his feet. On the floor, directly beneath him, sat a glowing green seal. From it sprung a cylindrical barrier. An illusion of him sitting there like before appeared. The seal had trapped him. It most likely stopped him from getting out, and anyone outside from noticing his presence. He didn't have the knowledge to escape, and his magic was not suited for the task. He would have to trust Master Ivan and wait for the seal to end.

That eliminates that maggot. Now... Ivan. The very man who would sell his families souls to the devil for power. Too cowardly to sell his own. But that was what gave him strength. Sacrificing others, was exactly what the devil relished in. Self-preservation and betrayal. Ivan was a worthy opponent.

He took notice of the man sitting on the bench. Plain and dull. Practically unworthy of any notice. He knew better. Underneath the illusion sat Ivan. Garbed in a suit, ascot, normal pants, and boots. Shoulder guards and an illustrious fur-lined cape to top it off.

"Ivan Dreyar. A pleasure." he spoke; intrigue clear in his voice. "What brings the outside man here? Hmmm?" he surmised that Ivan wanted to either get something from him or kill him. Both options were null and void in his opinion.

"Brain-chan! Oh, how excited I've been to meet you! How delightful!" he intoned in a jovial voice. "I didn't think you'd notice me, but what can I expect from one of the 'Big Three-chans'? You stand at the top, so it's only fair! Hehehehe... !" he continued, oblivious to Brain's growing ire towards his cheery tone. "It could have been the 'Big Four' if you had agreed, but your ever-useless pride impeded you. Did it not?" Brain asked with a hint of amusement. "Oh, how clever... Brain-_chan_." he sneered, emphasizing the chan.

Brain did not appreciate the comment, but he would not allow the intended reaction. He could swallow his pride if necessary. "Regardless... Why have you come here, _maggot-chan_?" he asked with much clearer amusement. "Ooh, what a difficult question. The easiest answer would be: I want to know how to mess you up. My goal is not far-fetched, but quite simple. Unfortunately, any interlopers outside of my inner-circle will only impede me. You fit into the impede category, Brain-chan!"

With that cry, Ivan lunged forward. "I don't know what you did to Alexei, but it won't matter! I'll beat you here and now! Alone! Hahahahaha!" he exclaimed, sending a massive torrent of shikigami at Brain. With speed unknown, Brain leaped sideways, dodging the attack all together. He grunted as he sent a small disc shaped blast at Ivan, who promptly diverted it with his shikigami. By this time, every person had ran from the area. Into buildings or simply out of the town.

"Now, the battle starts." Brain proclaimed as he charged Darkness energy into Klodoa – his staff. The darkness was released as a penetrating beam. Ivan, noticing the danger, dodged to the right, while simultaneously bringing a swarming mass of shikigami to Brain's side. Erecting a green barrier and grunting from the pressure, Brain warped the barrier into a small laser that burned through the shikigami. Ivan then increased his attack by creating a new mass of shikigami to attack Brain's right side. It proved ineffective when Brain slashed through the mass on his left side with a magically enhanced Klodoa. Escaping through the slashed area, Brain watched as the two masses converged and canceled each other out.

Frustrated with the outcome, Ivan sent a small sphere of shikigami at Brain. As soon as they got close enough, they exploded in a shower of Dark Magic. Brain protected himself with another barrier. He then sent another Dark Capriccio at Ivan, many times faster than the previous one. It only grazed Ivan's left side, but it left a nasty burn that stung Ivan. Before he could counter, Brain summoned a knife and lunged forward. He backhanded towards Ivan with the knife, but Ivan leaned back. Brain spun and swiped again, jamming the knife into Ivan's shoulder, then he swung Klodoa at Ivan sending three discs of Dark Magic at him, exploding on contact. The combo-attack greatly wounded Ivan.

With mounting rage, Ivan swung his arms out widely. "Feel the full-power of my Shikigami!" he shouted, while twisting his arms around. The surrounding buildings and all the people inside – bar Alexei – were then twisted by Ivan's magic. They all started to peel apart, until finally separating into countless shikigami dolls. So many were there, that a literal tornado of shikigami surrounded Ivan and Brain. Brain did not falter however. He slammed Klodoa into the ground, resulting in the jutting of a massive rock pillar that forced the shikigami around. With the swipe of Klodoa, the bottom separated to create an escape, but before Brain could, Ivan sent a plethora of shikigami into Brain, lifting him up into the sky, hundreds of feet. Ivan soon followed.

When both Ivan and Brain reached a certain height Ivan created a floor of shikigami. After regaining his balance, Brain assessed the situation. As Ivan sent wave-after-wave of shikigami into his shields, he charged Dark Magic into his staff. Finally, several seconds later, Brain sent a widespread attack of ghouls into the tornado; decimating the shikigami, and clearing the area around them. Ivan attempted to attack Brain with the shikigami in the floor, but Brain surrounded himself with a spherical green barrier in a panicked manner. Ivan attacked Brain with a renewed vigor, noticing Brain's panicked face. With great effort, he pierced the barrier and Brain alike, but immediately following, the real Brain attacked from behind, sending a wave of Dark Magic at Ivan. It blasted straight into Ivan and put a large hole in the floor. But Ivan protected himself by partially turning into shikigami.

Following the attack, Ivan sent an entire half of the floor into Brain who could not block it all. The shikigami broke through his barriers and assaulted him, before he managed to fry them with a spherical wave of Dark Magic.

Ivan smiled while looking pointedly at Brain. "I'm disappointed Brain-chan. I have heard tales of your power and your just not living up to it." he said in a depressed tone, despite his injuries. Brain sighed. "I was hoping to keep him out of this, but it appears he's necessary. At least a little bit. Prepare yourself Ivan." he spoke sternly. "I don't let him out often." Ivan raised an eye-brow. Him?

Brain looked at Klodoa and nudged his head. "Klodoa." he spoke. "Yes, Master Brain?" Klodoa asked nervously, while surveying the battlefield. "I'm going to let 'him' out to finish this battle. Use the sealing spell in the lachryma to stop him when he's done. Understand?" he questioned. "Of course, Master Brain." he answered simply. He then floated off the floor and down to the ground.

Brain closed his eyes for a moment. Ivan could feel his magic levels increase dramatically and started sweating. Brain started getting paler and soon he opened his eyes. They were red. "What did you do, Brain?" he inquired. "Brain? No... I am Zero. Master of Oracion Seis. You must be Ivan. Interesting. I think I'll destroy you now. Hahaha!" he exclaimed. "Impossible! You cannot defeat m-" he started before Zero lifted his foot and brought it down hard on the shikigami floor. The area around Ivan lit up with green energy, before everything was thrust downward from an increased gravitational pull.

Ivan crashed onto the ground, hard. Zero casually jumped down after him. As Ivan tried to move, Zero slashed a Dark Capriccio in front of him. He cut off all of Ivan's escapes. Ivan, panicking, thrust all of what was left of the shikigami floor down at Zero. Zero shot a massive group of discs at the shikigami, but the damage was minimal. Zero than brought his hands up, before clapping them together, creating an enormous wave of Dark Magic that threw the shikigami off-course, crashing them into the ground. Ivan used the attack as an opportunity to escape from Zero.

"Your certainly stronger than Brain-chan, dear Zero-chan. But... ! You won't beat me today. There is a reason why I control a fourth of all of Fiore's dark guilds." he proclaimed steadily. Ivan spun his hands, before creating several magic arrays around the battlefield. With a thrust of his arm, the previously defeated shikigami started transforming. They started folding over and through themselves, creating spheres of purple energy around them. The energy expanded continuously, before finally settling into the vague shape of a person. Each of the countless shikigami carried the silhouette of a human. "Taste the true power of unsealed shikigami!" Ivan exclaimed, watching as his shikigami spirits flooded the area, blotting out the sun.

All of the spirits rushed towards Zero. They attacked en mass. Hundreds-of-thousands of spirits launched at Zero. Each one attacked with an astounding vigor. Zero thrust his hands out and launched hundreds of discs into the approaching wall of spirits. Each disc exploded on contact and destroyed large groups – hundreds at a time. It did not stop the spirits however. They continued forth, a seemingly endless army.

Zero smiled. "What incredible destruction! Hahaha! Absolutely marvelous!" he exclaimed with glee. In both hands he channeled energy, before unleashing two enormous Dark Rondo's at the horde of spirits. Thousands of the spirits were destroyed, but a new wave rushed at Zero, intent on destroying him. Zero however, just spun while swinging his arms. A colossal, circular Dark Wave launched outwards. Each of the spirits were slammed with an unholy force. To finish it off, Zero swung two extra-long Dark Capriccio's into the mass, cutting down wave-after-wave.

Zero continued swinging, until a flash of gold entered his vision and slammed an elbow into his face. As he skidded back, he noticed the armored mage that Brain trapped earlier. Alexei. He smirked at the man, before launching towards him. They met, blow-to-blow, sending shock-waves out with every hit. They finally separated after Zero slammed his palm into the man.

"This is Alexei, Raven Tail's 'Ace'!" Ivan proclaimed excitedly. "He's very powerful and skilled. Do you think you can fend both of us off, Zero-chan?!" he continued loudly. "Indeed, most impressive. But it matters not. You will all fall before me!" Zero countered. He attacked Alexei with a destructive passion. Lighting his hands in Dark Magic, he struck at Alexei. They both continued exchanging blows, but Zero quickly gained the advantage and pushed Alexei back. Before he could strike however, a shikigami spirit leaped _through _Alexei. Zero raised an eyebrow, but stepped back into a crouch and struck the shikigami inside the spirit, destroying it.

Both Ivan and Alexei lunged forward, ready to attack. While the spirits came closer, the three combatants traded blows. Zero blocked and dodged each attack with surprising ease. After several harsh hits to both Ivan and Alexei, Zero slammed his hands to the earth. Both Ivan and Alexei were thrust into the earth, as a ring of green energy surrounded Zero. "Admirable, but you cannot defeat me, Ivan! Hahaha!" he shouted. He quickly rose one hand above him and one below, before gathering green energy in each.

"**Genesis Zero**!" Zero exclaimed as a torrent of dark ghouls shot from his hands. The countless ghouls then consumed the horde of shikigami spirits, completely eliminating them. As the last spirits were destroyed, Alexei leaped at Zero, but with a quick gathering of Dark Magic in his foot, Zero kicked Alexei in the chest. A Dark Wave then shot from his foot into Alexei, launching the armored man away. Zero marveled at the destruction, before looking straight into Ivan's eyes. "Now it's your turn." he spoke in a menacing tone.

Walking forward, Zero leveled a ready-to-be-fired, condensed Dark Rondo at Ivan's head. Ivan cowered away, assured that Zero would kill him, but before he could, Zero was hit in the back by a hazy beam of blue energy.

"What!?" Zero roared, looking at Klodoa, the one shooting the beam. "What are you doing!?" Klodoa stared back. "Master Brain said to keep him alive. I'm sorry Master Zero, he told me to seal you again. Forgive me." he said before Zero started transforming back into Brain.

Before anyone could do anything, Alexei rushed back onto the scene, with a dented armor. He helped Ivan up, and held the man's damaged limb over his shoulder. Ivan looked at Brain with an insane smile. "You're an interesting man Brain. I hope we meet again." he said, before the both of them disappeared in a torrent of shikigami that then flew away.

"Well." Brain started. "What an interesting meeting." He looked around at all the carnage from the battle. Remembering the fight, he smiled. "It's a good thing I left you alive Ivan. You're going to help me more than you know." He then broke down into near-insane laughter, while walking off. He had much to prepare for.

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A/N:  
I didn't think I'd get a story out this fast. Then again, it is only a one-shot. The only real reason why I finally have a story out is because I was in a car for **13** hours. I have mild motion sickness and it killed me. I ended up drawing a modified picture of Brain and Zero during the ride, and it inspired me to write this.

I actually made Brain/Zero and Ivan a lot stronger than they are in canon, because I love Brain/Zero and Ivan was to weak IMO. I actually gave Ivan the ability to use shikigami spirits because in Japanese mythology, sorcerors would summon spirits and when the spirits were harmed or defeated they would turn into harmless paper dolls. Hence, Ivan's shikigami.

Note: I may or may not end up making a story out of this. It actually does kind of branch of from a seperate Fairy Tail story I was hoping to make. (In the very, very distant future.) So, I might connect with this other story that I might make.


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